Dayton region holds disaster preparedness drill

Dayton officials say they’re prepared in the event of a large-scale disaster such as the tornado in Oklahoma this week.

In fact, local responders were already gearing up for a major disaster preparedness drill Wednesday from 9 a.m. to noon on the campus of the University of Dayton.

About 125 firefighters, law enforcement officials and county leaders were set to take part in an annual exercise simulating a large-scale hazardous material spill on UD’s campus, alongside about 125 to 150 volunteers who will pose as evacuees and victims of the spill.

Dennis Bristow, HazMat team coordinator for the Dayton Regional Hazardous Materials Response Team, said law enforcement officials will move to evacuate a portion of the school’s campus and residence halls, as well as direct traffic away from the simulated spill as it is cleaned.

At the same time, the Dayton Area Chapter of the American Red Cross will drill its pre-determined evacuation shelter at UD Arena, while Miami Valley Hospital will practice handling contaminated victims both by ambulance and walk-ins in need of decontamination.

Montgomery County also will open and operate its emergency operations center to respond to the simulated threat, all while being evaluated by a state official as part of the mandatory exercise.

Bristow said officials must conduct training simulating a hazmat spill annually, but this full-scale exercise happens every four years.

“We do well, and we hit 100 percent of the marks about every time,” Bristow said, “It’s a direct reflection of the training by everyone involved.”

Even between the state-mandated drills such as this one, local officials say preparing for effective disaster response remains a priority.

Elizabeth Long, a spokesperson for Kettering Health Network, said her network uses the Hospital Incident Command System, or HICS, which evolved from the National Incident Management System, a product of the Department of Homeland Security that provides a template for federal, state and local governments to coordinate with hospitals and non-governmental organizations in the private sector to respond to emergency situations.

Diane Ewing, a spokesperson for Premier Health Partners, said the hospital system is “fully prepared for emergencies,” and that drills for such situations are handled by each individual hospital.

“If you a disaster hits, we would be working in conjunction with our local governments and other hospitals, so we all need that same structure.” Long said.

The plan focuses on a local response, where a command center would be set up to coordinate disaster response, with an incident commander and staff.

“We have plans in place, we review the plans on a regular basis, and we have drills,” Long said.

Hospitals drill on their own with a set of established scenarios, and often coordinate with local law enforcement and government to coordinate training exercises and plan for disaster response. Last week, the Dayton International Airport drilled with Grandview Medical Center in the scenario of an aircraft crash, but other scenarios include terrorist attacks, earthquakes and other incidents with varying scales of severity.

There are many factors to take into consideration, including the potential that a hospital itself or its staff could be affected by the disaster, Long said.

In the event a hospital was hit, for example, the other hospitals may divert resources, direct patients to other sites or evacuate patients, depending on the severity of the situation.

“We study what has happened with other hospitals that have gone through this around the country,” Long said, noting for example the response of New York-area hospitals to Hurricane Sandy. “We study what can we learn and do better, and to sharpen our skills.”